Victims – Episode 16

Victims – Episode 16

A Story By Rosemary Okafor

“There is no religion accepted to Allah except Islam,

Whoever seeks religion other than Islam will never be allowed to live.

Quran is the only holy book given to us by Allah through his messenger; and whoever rejects what Allah sent down in his book, Allah will punish him for his rejection, recon him for his denial and torment him for defying his book.

I have submitted myself to Allah Alone, will carry out Jihads unto Allah. I have prepared myself to fight and die for Allah and Islam, and will not go back or betray the brotherhood.

la ilaha illa’llah, Muhammad rasul Allah…”

His name was Jonah, now it has changed; he now bore Issah he was a new man, reborn to unleash terror on unbelievers

“We fight for the course, we spread Islam and bring unbelievers to their knees until they accept Allah as the only true God and Islam as the true Religion” the commander had said to him the day he was reborn,

But he don’t give a f**k about their religious nonsense, what he needed was power, to be able to wield weapons again and make people cower with fear.

“You can get all your heart desires if you agree to join our sect, even much more…” Ishamila had assured him

“don’t waste away in this rotten place, look at you…there is nothing left of you, the military kicked you out like bad news the moment they felt you are of no use to them, with no money to sustain you…no family to go back to, nothing”

“I am a Christian” The young Officer had said carelessly

“And what has that done for you? Will they pay your rent, give you food and money when you need it?” Ishmila continued

“It doesn’t matter…” the young Officer had said, puffing his cigarette

“Your Pastors are bunch of selfish folks who uses your ignorant to enrich themselves, they will not do anything to help you, you will lose friends now you have nothing…join the brotherhood, fight for Allah and he will reward you with the good things of life” Ishmila tried to convince him

“Your Allah gives nobody anything, he is like the god of the church, and both are all the same, cooling off somewhere while their subjects suffer to their pleasure” he was tired of speaking.

His speech defect annoyed him, the way Ishmila tilts his head to hear him clearly annoyed him, and the constant twitching of his eyes annoyed him even more.

But five days later, there he stood, reciting the creed and taking the vow, with vengeance in his heart, all he wanted was to inflict more pain to those that had hurt him, to be the demon that would hunt the military for a very long time, and to look that silly LovePeddler in the face while driving a hot blade through her v****a.

Yusuf has seen broken men became mighty army for Allah, some of them had joined the sect because they had no better option, they needed help and the brotherhood had offered them help

Unlike him and some sons of the rich who joined the sect because they wanted to serve Allah, because Imam Husayn convinced them that service to Allah was what they should live and die for and that enforcing terror on ‘masu zunubi (Sinners)’ and unbelievers would bring sanity to the world

But he was yet to know the motive of the new recruit. Ishmila had vowed that the new recruit would be a major advantage to the group.

“I have worked with him, I have seen him do terrible things to people in other to bend them, since he know the military so well, he will not have any trouble carrying out operations there” Ishmila had said to him

“But you said he was dismissed from the force?” he had asked

“Yes, but I know this man, Allah will use him to grow the sect and give us victory, he knows his way around and can do anything to achieve our aims”

Yusuf looked at Issah as he mumbled the creed, he barely talks or chats with anyone except when necessary, Yusuf had noticed how the man grips objects when he tries to pronounce words, and the twitching of his right eyelid;

“He is brutal and we need him” Ishmila had said

“Then get him, lure him with any promise, Uncle Husayn will reward you”

*

“I am proud of you son!” Husayn cheered

He sat in his car and watched the group train. They were at the out sketch of the city, in a village forsaking by the government for a long time.

He has purchased the vast land after he returned from Hajj a year ago. They have become the government for the community, carrying out charity works once in a while and spreading Allah’s Messages.

“They are increasing in number, soon we will have enough men to break into every home and every community” Husayn said, coming out from the car

Both of then watched the group for a while, there were women and girls whose job was to cook and run errands for the group;

“I don’t want to bring this up but…after Allah used Fatima to give us a successful operation in the IDP camp…”

Yusuf grimaced with emotional pain at the reminder of the death of his wife; Husayn looked at him and looked away while he continued,

“I think Allah is guiding us towards recruiting women into the group, not for cooking and cleaning but…to penetrate some places where these men may find it difficult to penetrate”

Yusuf frowned, he didn’t have any problem with Men sacrificing themselves for this course, but getting women involved reminded him of how he felt when his mother died, and what he felt when Fatima died.

“Every life is for Allah my boy, he demands for us when he needs us, if sacrificing the women is what it takes get this government on their feet, then so be it. I want this state for Allah and will do anything to achieve that”

“Do you think it is wise Uncle?” Yusuf asked

“Everything is wise as far as this is concerned” Husayn exhaled some air and continued,

“I will be travelling tomorrow to Iraq, I have an unfinished business with some Brothers” he moved to the driver’s side of the car and eased himself inside

“Think about what I told you while I am gone, I want to get positive reports when I get back” Imam husayn drove off.

*

“…He was the tiniest and most fragile baby I have ever seen, he was weighing 1.7kg at birth, he came out preterm…” Ukwuoma was feeding Ife,

She didn’t know why she was telling her this story, probably for the sake of telling the story.

That was all she has left with her, memories from the past and like old pictures, these memories hung there, they burdened her heart;

“…we were afraid he would die but he didn’t, you can imagine our joy when he celebrated his first birthday…”

She shoved a spoon of Pap in the girl’s mouth and wiped some that were falling from the mouth,

“my father didn’t call to congratulate us when he was born and he refused my mother from coming, when I sent a letter to them to tell them the circumstance that led to his birth, only mother responded, apologizing for not being there for me but told me that my father has not forgiven me for marrying an unbeliever, a stranger from Yoruba whose mother wan an Ifa priestess”

Ifeoluwa coughed and Ukwuoma put the food aside to get some water for her;

“…I broke his heart by not marrying from the fold, mother said. I thought he would get over it and love me again, if not for anything but for the new baby, but…I was wrong. When we moved from Enugu to Kaduna, I wrote to him severally but he didn’t respond, neither did mother…maybe he also forbade her from writing to me, so I gave up…”

She cleaned the girl’s mouth again, placed two pillows behind her and rested her back on them.

The girl sighed and closed her eyes. She has been like this since the day of the explosion, thankfully she has stopped talking to herself and gazing at nothing, she could now recognize them and understand when they talk to her.

Ukwuoma took the plate and stood up,

“You never talk about them before” Mariam asked as she followed Ukwuoma out

“No, they are dead to me”

“You need them now, you can send words across, let them know you are alive”

“I am already dead to them, there is no need, besides what good will it make? I have lost everything that would have made them take me back, My father will remind me that I am suffering for my disobedience”

“You have your son, Ogugua” Mariam placed a hand on Ukwuoma’s shoulder

“I am afraid he may not be welcomed to stay with them too”

To be continued

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